


make it easy (say I never mattered)

by Amber_Flicker



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bungou Stray Dogs Fusion, Angst, Betrayal, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, Hopeful Ending, Knowledge of bsd not necessary to read, Lovers to Enemies to Friends, M/M, Past Relationship(s), the hartmon as soukoku au no one asked for
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-12
Updated: 2019-03-12
Packaged: 2019-11-08 21:50:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17989142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amber_Flicker/pseuds/Amber_Flicker
Summary: Relationships and how they change.Hartmon fest 2019 - day 23 - working together





	make it easy (say I never mattered)

**Author's Note:**

> This is only loosely based on BSD, so you don't have to have any knowledge of it to read (though I 100% recommend it if you're looking for something to watch)! Just note:
> 
> 1\. Team Flash is more of a superpowered detective organization here than a hero team, and that the Rogues are pretty much the same as canon except that they, you know, actually got together, and are the main enemies of team flash.  
> 2\. Hartley's power is not the same as in canon; instead he has the ability to negate others' powers by making contact with them. Everyone else has their canon meta powers, but Cisco's power can get out of control if he puts too much into it.  
> 3\. The Legion of Doom is their current common enemy.

"I'd say it's nice to be here again, but considering the circumstances, well," Cisco's breath caught in his throat. Because it can't be him. Not after so long, not after his disappearing act. But the voice is too familiar, and when he turns around, there's no doubt. "-It would be a lie."

Hartley didn't look that different, but at the same time he _did._ Messier hair, darker clothes, but that same perfect posture and poise he'd always had. All the feelings he'd thought he locked away start to come out again. Damn Hartley for coming back now, after he'd finally gotten over it. Four years and the belief that he'd never see him again all shattered. "But you're good at lying, Rathaway. Why stop now?" He says. 

Hartley's expression flickered with something like surprise, but it was gone just as quickly. He'd always been good at hiding his emotions, at least that hadn't changed. "Maybe I didn't want to start this alliance with a fight."

"That's a first."

"Alright, alright. Someone want to explain what's happening here?" Cisco had almost forgotten they weren't alone. Barry looked hoplessly confused, and so did most of the others. With the obvious exception of Caitlin, of course.

"This is Hartley Rathaway-"

"-Cisco's ex," Cisco glared at Hartley's interruption, and while it didn't phase him, the intensity seemed to make the rest of the room back off. And he understood, because he rarely got this angry, but he couldn't care right now. If he started caring, the rest of his emotions would come out. They didn't need to see that. They were supossed to try to get along with the Rogues, at least until their common enemy was taken down, but why would they send Hartley as their representative? Were they not aware of the history he had with the STAR agency, or was that exactly why?

"My ex partner. You know, the one who abandoned us all."

_"Oh."_

"You seem to have done just fine without me, Cisquito," Hartley turned, looked Barry up and down disbelievingly, " _This_ is who you've replaced me with?" 

"Hey!"

"Don't insult people immediately, please, Hartley," Caitlin said, privately lamenting the loss of what little peace there was around here. She was the only other person currently working there that had been around back then, so Cisco knew she was probably expecting them to fight the entire time. And she probably wasn't wrong. He had a reason to have a grudge against Hartley now, though, where before it was mostly just harmless bickering.

"I didn't start it," Hartley said, eyes now leaving Cisco.

"You started it when you left."

"Don't you guys think maybe this should be a private conversation...?" Barry spoke for everyone in the room. He was right, no one else needed to hear this. 

"Come on," he said, not looking back to see whether Hartley was following as he started walking to one of the offices that wasn't in use.

***

"You _left,_ Hartley," He didn't say _you left me._ That didn't make it any less true, and they both know it's implied.

"It wasn't that simple. You don't know what happened," Hartley didn't even have the decency to look guilty about it. About what his sudden disappearance did to Cisco. 

"Because you never told me! You were just gone one day!"

"And now I'm here."

"It's too damn late for that. You don't just get to walk in here after _four years_ and act like nothing happened."

"What do you want me to say, Cisco?" Hartley's only ever called him by his name when he was really being earnest- it's always some nickname, usually. It made a part of him think maybe he should listen to what he had to say. But Cisco could still feel the anger buzzing inside him, the hurt buried underneath it all. That part of him would rather see Hartley suffer than ever listen to him. He didn't deserve Cisco's attention. Not anymore.

So he wasn't sure what he _wanted_ him to say. Maybe an apology, as useless as it would be now. An explanation. He didn't ask for any of that. "You know, you really fucked me over when you left. Couldn't even use my powers fully without you around to stabilize them. You had to know that would happen, and you still decided to abandon me, and everyone else."

"I had to go," There was no manipulation in his voice. Hartley wasn't giving one of his fake smiles, or trying to make things play out how he wanted them to. "You know what Wells is now. I figured it out all those years ago, and I couldn't take orders from him anymore. You need to understand that."

"Why didn't you say anything? Do you know how many people died?!"

Hartley shook his head, shadow of a self-deprecating smile crossing his face as he looked away. "...I was terrified. I couldn't face him, he was too powerful. He had too much control over me anyway, even if I'd had the power... I'm not sure I could've killed him."

"So you went to join the _Rogues?"_

"I got an offer. They needed my skills, and they had the ability to keep me off of Wells' radar and fight him off if he did find me. What else could I do?"

 _You could have taken me with you._ "You could have at least told me you were leaving," Even as he said it, he knew it wouldn't have worked. He would have asked too many questions. But he had to say it anyway. "You could have not gone to the opposite side of the law. They've murdered people, Hartley."

"I did what I had to do."

Cisco stared at him, letting the silence stretch between them. Letting it all settle. "You're not even sorry, are you?" There was nothing but resignation in his voice.

"Do you want an apology?" Hartley's face was carefully blank.

"Not one you don't mean. No more lies," Hartley didn't reply. "Yeah. I didn't think so," He felt like such an idiot for ever falling for Hartley. Who knows if he'd ever cared. Maybe all that had just been keeping Cisco in line, placating him. He'd never know. He wasn't even sure if he'd ever known Hartley at all. He claimed he couldn't work for Wells- Thawne- anymore because of who he was and what he'd been planning at the time, but then he contradicted that by joining up with criminals. Hartley had never been easy to read, but this...

"Regardless of our past," Hartley said, "We're working together now. Let's not act like children and embarass either of our organizations."

Cisco let out a short, sharp laugh. "If anyone's gonna act like a child, it'll be you."

"Oh really?"

"Yes! Don't act like you don't provoke me on purpo-" He cut himself off, realizing that's exactly what just happened. And he'd played right into it. "Let's go."

***

He shouldn't trust Hartley after what he did- well, he didn't, completely. He didn't trust Hartley with his heart, but he could trust him with his life. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing.

There really wasn't time to think about his bad life choices, not when they were trying to fight. They'd been paired up to deal with Darhk, the other Legion members being dealt with by  
their respective teams. Cisco couldn't say it didn't make sense tactically to put him and Hartley together- it didn't mean he had to like it. _'Personal feelings have no place in a fight,'_ Hartley had told him once, which had been hypocritical of him when he did that very thing, but it was sound advice. He pushed their history to the side and stopped holding back, trusting that if he got out of control that Hartley would stop him. 

The time apart hadn't done much to change how smoothly they worked together. They'd been the agency's best before Hartley left, after all. But he hadn't used the full force of his power since then, couldn't risk it without a way to keep it under control, and doing so completely exhausted him by the time they'd taken Darhk down. Using the offensive side of his abilities had always been tiring, but now that they were so out of use... He found himself stumbling a little, and Hartley's touch went from the minimum to cancel out his power to a strong enough grip to keep him from falling. 

They ended up sitting down, checking in with the others over the comms and waiting for one of the groups to come pick them up- whoever finished fighting first, or whoever came out with the least injuries. Anyone who wasn't fighting was on standby as backup or, in Caitlin's case, waiting in case medical attention was needed, so they'd be here for a while.

"No one else has ever been able to work with me as well as you do," Hartley said, voice quiet enough that Cisco wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear.

"Well, if you'd actually communicated instead of just disappearing..." It's maybe too harsh, because he's had time to think about it and he thinks he'd probably want to run away too if he'd been in that situation, but things could've been resolved so much sooner if they'd known, if Hartley had told them about Wells... Cisco still can't quite get past it and he's not sure he ever will. 

"I know that now."

They sit in silence for a few minutes. "Maybe we'll get to work together again at some point," It's an olive branch. They're never getting back their relationship as it was or those four years, what's done is done. But maybe they can rebuild _something._ It wouldn't be unheard of for the STAR Agency to work with the Rogues again, not when ability related problems have been happening on larger scales than they used to, recently. 

"Maybe," Hartley replied. It's not a rejection. It's probably as close to a yes he'll get from him.

It's a place to start.

**Author's Note:**

> This has been sitting in my drafts since 2017... It seemed like a good time to finish it. I feel like the ending is a little rushed but I wanted to get this up on time.
> 
> I feel like it's been forever since I've written hartmon, it was nice to write them again.
> 
> cliches-and-coffee on tumblr


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